Chapter 221 Pi Goose Pi Goose Yibei Yun Dong
Not long after, Cao Pi, who was far away in Luoyang, also received the second secret memorial from Xiahou Shang in the palace.
When Cao Pi heard that Xia Hou Shang had submitted a second secret memorial, his heart skipped a beat.
At first he thought something happened in the south, but after reading Xia Houshang's secret performance, excitement appeared on his face.
When Xiahou Shang wrote the first secret memorial, Cao Pi had intended to agree to Xiahou Shang's sending troops, but was dissuaded by Sima Yi and Jiang Ji.
Under the dissuasion of two close ministers, Cao Pi temporarily left Xiahou Shang's first secret letter without returning it.
When Xiahou Shang's second secret memorial was delivered to him, and looking at the contents of Xiahou Shang's secret memorial, Cao Pi immediately summoned a group of close ministers to discuss the matter again.
Since Cao Pi accepted Zen and officially became emperor, he began to work hard to govern in the name of the emperor.
Because he had read scriptures since he was a child, Cao Pi wanted to be a Confucian benevolent monarch.
In terms of the concept of governing the country, Cao Pi pursued the example of the ancient benevolent monarchs and virtuous ministers.
On the one hand, he instituted laws to cut down vassals, crack down on dissidents, continue to consolidate his own power, and issued edicts to strictly prohibit his relatives and eunuchs from intervening in politics.
On the other hand, he cultivated himself with the people, issued edicts that were quite beneficial to the people, and vigorously developed Confucianism among the people.
Cao Pi wanted to educate the people as soon as possible, restore the order of social life, promote social economic and cultural development, and restore the national strength of the north.
Not to mention Cao Pi's personal morality and some of his gross mistakes, he indeed made outstanding contributions to the development of northern internal affairs.
Historically, a few years later, the North would raise hundreds of thousands of troops at every turn. Even in the later stages, it would not be a problem to send hundreds of thousands of troops to fight a protracted war. The foundation for all this was laid during Cao Pi's reign.
In terms of political ambition, Cao Pi always wanted to inherit Cao Cao's ambition to unify the country.
Following Cao Pi's edict, a group of close friends quickly came to the main hall.
After a group of important officials arrived, Cao Pi ordered his attendants to show Xiahou Shang's secret memorials to them one by one.
Cao Pi summoned not many ministers, but they were all people he could trust, so he was not afraid of leaking secrets.
After several upstarts from Cao Wei read Xia Houshang's second secret memorial, everyone could not hide the shock on their faces.
Cao Pi was a monarch who was deeply influenced by Confucian culture since childhood, so the ministers he trusted were all ministers who were familiar with Confucian classics.
Among such a group of monarchs and ministers, the impact of Meng Da's determination of determination was even greater.
There may have been important ministers who would have advised Cao Pi to act cautiously before, but after Meng Da's move of cutting off his hair, no ministers offered any words to dissuade him.
Otherwise, if Cao Pi asks you to decide whether you are willing or not, no minister will be able to answer.
Seeing that none of his close advisors had any objections, Cao Pi began to look excited on his face.
If Xia Houshang and Cao Ren wanted to get rid of Mi Yang more personally, Cao Pi focused on the overall situation of the world today and wanted to take Xicheng into his hands as soon as possible.
Because Xicheng, or Hanxing County, is a transportation hub connecting Hanzhong and Xiangyang.
If he can hold Hanxing County in his hands, he can cut off the fastest connection between Hanzhong and Xiangyang with one blow.
In this way, when Liu Bei launches a large-scale Northern Expedition in the future, he will undoubtedly be unable to coordinate with the east and west, making it easier for him to defeat them one by one.
Moreover, as a traditional Confucian monarch, Cao Pi believed in destiny.
Some time ago, after Cao Pi founded the Wei Dynasty, he heard from Zhang Yin the four words "Tianbu Zuoer" said by his sister Cao Jie.
Cao Pi felt bad about those four characters, so he ordered someone to carve the official characters "Da Wei accepts the national seal of the Han Dynasty" on the shoulder of the imperial seal, in order to prove to himself that he was not "usurping the Han".
After completing this move, he felt much more at ease.
After completing this move, Cao Pi recently heard that Cao Zhi was crying for Liu Xiefa, which made him very dissatisfied.
Just because he had not been on the throne for a long time, he could not deal with his brother too harshly.
But precisely because he did not punish Cao Zhi to vent his anger, he always felt that there was a kind of haze surrounding him in his heart.
Although he hates Cao Zhi, Cao Zhi is his brother after all.
Now even his younger brother believed the rumors and cried for Liu Xiefa, which made Cao Pi even more uncertain about what others thought.
What is destiny?
The destiny of heaven is the surrender of human hearts and the surrender of all nations.
Now, when Cao Pi is feeling gloomy, his biggest rival, General Meng Da, has decided to make a decision and defect to the north to serve the righteous cause.
Cao Pi had also heard of Meng Da's reputation. Meng Da was not the kind of unknown general.
This filled Cao Pi's heart with joy.
Cao Pi was determined to set Meng Da as a benchmark.
Cao Pi smiled and said to all the close ministers in the palace:
"In the past, Yi Zhi turned his back on Shang and returned to Zhou; he traveled hundreds of miles from Yu to enter Qin; Le Yi felt that the barbarians were like cicadas; Wang Zunzhi was disobedient and went back to China; all of them reviewed the effects of success and failure.
Knowing the inevitability of success or failure, we describe it in pictures and write down its merits in good history.
This son's attitude is pure and noble, his abilities are excellent, his determination is clear, and he understands the righteousness deeply.
I looked westward with an open mind, and thought of it, wishing I had not known it earlier, and I sighed.
In the past, when Yu Qing entered Zhao and met again to take the chancellor, Chen Ping returned to the Han Dynasty, where he paid a visit to the chariot and his son came to me. It was at this time.
The edict was passed: I ordered the envoy to bring my royal horse to deliver it to show my loyalty and love."
When Cao Pi issued this edict, Sima Yi, Jiang Ji, Chen Qun, and Zhu Shuo in the hall already frowned slightly.
Cao Pi relapsed into his old habit of giving random rewards to those he loved.
The royal horse is the exclusive mount of Cao Pi, the emperor. How can it be given to his subordinates?
But after Cao Pi said the above words, he felt that there was something lacking. How could such a reward reflect Meng Da's loyalty?
The heart of a loyal minister cannot be cold.
Cao Pi thought for a while and then said: "Now the sea is clear and stable. I want to unify thousands of miles. I have three warnings of boundless dust. There is no danger of dogs barking in mid-summer."
Zidu returned to Shunyi and returned to the north. He issued an edict to brighten the roads for his family to show his nobility. If Zidu wants to come to meet him, he should first make arrangements to secure it, and then ride slowly and lightly to the north.
I will worship Da again as a regular servant of Sanqi, lead the general in the Western Expedition, and grant the title of Marquis of Pingyang Ting."
Every time Cao Pi issued an edict, Huangmen Shilang would record Cao Pi's edict.
Envoys will be sent to Nanyang soon to deliver these edicts.
But after Cao Pi finished speaking about the latest edict, Jiang Ji, who was loyal and upright, finally couldn't help it. He bowed to Cao Pi and said:
"Now that Mengda intends to submit to Your Majesty, it is actually due to Your Majesty's divine power. However, Mengda has unclear talents and is not loyal, so how can he rush to reward him too generously?"
"I hope your majesty will think twice. If your majesty wants to reward him, it will not be too late to reward Meng Da after he has successfully performed his righteousness."
Jiang Ji's advice attracted looks of approval on the faces of several other important ministers.
But after hearing this, Cao Pi had a smile on his face. He waved his hands and said, "I will protect him from others, just like shooting a mugwort arrow in the middle ear."
"If this is not the case, how can we be loyal to "break the will to make a living"?"
Seeing that Cao Pi insisted on this, and thinking that Meng Da's move was indeed not suspicious, Jiang Ji finally had no choice but to retreat.
After Jiang Ji retreated, Cao Pi immediately ordered Huangmen Shilang, who had finished recording the edict, to send his edict to Xiahou Shang as soon as possible, and to have Xiahou Shang deliver it to Meng Da as soon as possible.
What Cao Pi didn't know was that shortly after his edict was issued, the first fraud case in the post-Three Kingdoms period would occur.
And soon, he, the Emperor of Wei, will become the laughing stock of the world!
Under Cao Pi's urgent imperial orders, his edict was quickly delivered to Xiahou Shang of Wudang County.
At this time, Cao Ren's army had not yet arrived.
After all, Nanyang County is a large southern county that protects the Central Plains, and there are tens of thousands of Guan Yu's troops in Xiangyang watching eagerly.
In this case, Cao Ren must arrange all the defenses in Nanyang so that he can lead his army southward with peace of mind.
When Xiahou Shang received Cao Pi's edict, he excitedly bowed to the north three times.
Your Majesty is truly the emperor!
Although Cao Ren's army has not yet arrived, in Cao Ren's reply to Xiahou Shang, Xiahou Shang already knew that Cao Ren would soon lead an army to Wudang County for a personal expedition.
Under such circumstances, what Xiahou Shang has to do during this period of time is to, on the one hand, intensify training of troops and horses and collect boats, and on the other hand, strengthen the relationship with Meng Da to appease him.
At this point, Xiahou Shang, who was the first to contact Meng Da and surrender, has become the middleman between Meng Da and Cao Wei.
And he had no doubts about Meng Da. At this time, he had already bet all his treasure on Meng Da.
The difference from the beginning is that it was Meng Da who contacted Xia Houshang eagerly, fearing that he would not trust him.
Now Xiahou Shang is trying every possible means to strengthen his connection with Meng Da, and is deeply afraid that something unexpected will happen to him.
In this state of mind, after Xiahou Shang received Cao Pi's edict, he immediately ordered Li Fu to carry Cao Pi's edict and return to the Hanshui Army Stronghold to inform Meng Da of Cao Pi's grace.
Li Fu embraced Cao Pi's edict in excitement, and soon returned to the Hanshui military camp to find Meng Da.
When Meng Da read the edict given to him by Cao Pi, great surprise appeared on his face.
What he didn't expect was that Cao Pi would value him so much.
Seeing the bright red seal on the edict and the reward given to him by Cao Pi, Meng Da was really moved in his heart for a moment.
But then this idea of greed was quickly dispelled by the rationality in Mengda's mind.
He has been following Mi Yang for several months, and he already knows a lot about Mi Yang's methods.
Compared with his former superior Liu Feng, Mi Yang is definitely not the arrogant character.
Since Mi Yang dared him to use this false surrender strategy, there must be countermeasures.
Besides, his only son, Meng Xing, is currently in Mi Yang's county government.
Under such circumstances, Meng Da would not take that risk.
Just like Xia Houshang, Xia Houshang gave all his trust to Meng Da, and Meng Da also gave all his trust to Mi Yang.
After receiving Cao Pi's order, Meng Da ordered Li Fu to go down and have a good rest.
Then late at night, he went to the county government alone to find Mi Yang to report the latest situation.
Thanks to the previous great purge, Mi Yang currently has absolute control over Xicheng.
Under such circumstances, as long as Mi Yang made proper arrangements, no one would notice Meng Da's secret meeting with Mi Yang late at night.
Because Mi Yang had recently been preoccupied with seducing Xia Houshang, Mi Yang went to bed very late during this period, worried that Meng Da would report important matters at any time.
Under the leadership of Gan Gao, Meng Da met Mi Yang in a remote hall in the county government.
After Mi Yang saw Meng Da, he smiled and handed several letters in his hand to Meng Da to read.
Meng Da respectfully took the letter from Mi Yang and read it carefully.
After Meng Da read it, a smile appeared on his face.
These letters were written to Mi Yang by Lu Yi and Deng Ai respectively.
Not long ago, after several of them learned about Meng Da's confession, they all wrote letters to defend Meng Da, believing that he would not have any rebellious intentions.
Moreover, their words vaguely revealed that Mi Yang was pushing Meng Da too far.
This shows how much impact Meng Da had on everyone when he cut off his hair and confessed.
After reading the petitions from Lu Yi and Deng Ai, Meng Da felt a warm feeling in his heart.
Perhaps he has suffered a lot of grievances during this period, and perhaps his colleagues did not have much enthusiasm for him in the past, but fortunately they were willing to believe in him at the critical moment.
This is something Mengda has never experienced before.
After being moved, Meng Da handed the edict given to him by Cao Pi in his arms to Mi Yang to read.
After reading it, Mi Yang raised his eyebrows slightly and couldn't help but sigh at Cao Pi's great work.
However, this is also in line with Cao Pi's character in history. The fact that he was deceived by Sun Quan has a lot to do with his own character.
Then Meng Da reported something to Mi Yang:
Xiahou Shang not only asked Li Fu to bring Cao Pi's reward edict today, but also discussed with Meng Da the follow-up march in the letter.
In order to cooperate internally and externally, of course, Mengda must be informed of his army's advance strategy and approximate troop strength, so that they can coordinate seamlessly in the future.
After Mi Yang learned that Cao Ren would go on a personal expedition, a look of surprise appeared on his face. Unexpectedly, he caught a bigger fish.
After informing Mi Yang of the general situation, Meng Da said to Mi Yang: "If Cao Ren comes in person, he will bring a large army. However, our army only has 10,000 people, so I'm afraid there will be no danger."
Meng Da's advice made Mi Yang nod. He had already considered this.
Even if Cao Ren didn't come in person, Mi Yang had no intention of defeating Xiahou Shang's 20,000 troops with only his 10,000 troops.
Mi Yang looked at Meng Da and saw that his long hair was gone.
When his hair was not long, Mengda couldn't even tie his crown, so he could only let his hair hang loosely.
In today's aesthetics, adults with disheveled hair will be ridiculed.
Feeling Meng Da's dedication in her heart, Mi Yang reached out and patted Meng Da on the shoulder and said:
"There is no need to worry about the military strength. Zidu will only need to investigate Cao Ren's further movements for me in detail."
"If this thing comes to pass, even if I don't need any merit of my own, I will still recommend my son to become a marquis."
Hearing what Mi Yang said, Meng Da bowed to Mi Yang excitedly and said excitedly: "Thank you, General."
Just two days before Cao Pi's edict was delivered to Meng Da, a team carrying Wang Ling quickly arrived outside Nanzheng City in Hanzhong County.
When being blocked by the city guards, Fa Miao, the leader of this secret team, took out a gold medal and then said to the soldiers at the city gate:
"Your Majesty is in a hurry, anyone who dares to stand in his way will be killed without mercy!"
After checking the identity of this group of people, the city guards immediately stepped aside respectfully.
After no one stopped him, Fa Miao, who was Liu Bei's envoy, led a group of people behind him and quickly ran into Nanzheng City.
If Mi Yang were present, he would definitely be able to recognize who the group of people behind Fa Miao were.
Zhang Nan, Feng Xi, Fu Kuang, Cheng Ji, Guan Xing, Zhang Bao, Zhao Tong, etc.
Some of these people died in the Yiling Battle in history, but their fate has changed in this life.
Mi Yang's previous letter was not only a bold statement to Liu Bei, but Liu Bei's "good deeds" were not just spiritual encouragement.
Now everything is ready, just waiting for the fish to be caught!
The Han Dynasty wants to be reestablished, but how can it be done without the blood of thieves?
Today is just one chapter, I have to go and rest first.
I fell down, but it wasn't too serious. Just after applying the medicine, my hand was in constant pain.
Normal updates will resume tomorrow.
Tomorrow is December, and I wish everyone all the best in December.
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!